Projects

Phase: Completed

Showing 1 - 25 of 31

31 results found

Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Mauritius, South Africa Completed Agriculture

Promoting eco-entrepreneurship in Africa

The greatest challenges facing eco-enterprises are a lack of access to knowledge, networks, financing and high-quality business development services and poor enabling conditions, including a shortage of skilled people at the community level.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Uganda Completed Agriculture

Eco-agriculture - livelihoods from sesame and organic, green business opportunities for young rural people

In Uganda’s northern region, about 80% of the population is unemployed or under-employed in the informal economy, and generally fully occupied with subsistence agriculture. Agriculture remains one of the few drivers of economic growth due to relatively fertile soils, two rainy seasons and the high demand for food and other agricultural products in the East African region, as well as the growing demand for organic products. Internationally, demand for sesame seeds has grown fast in recent years – sesame seed production in Uganda grew by 78% between 2002 and 2012.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

South Africa Completed Agriculture

Collaborating to facilitate investment and the shift to a green economy that can improve social wellbeing and ecosystem services in the Port Elizabeth western catchment areas

The city of Port Elizabeth and its western catchment areas are experiencing considerable environmental, economic and social challenges, including energy and water supply constraints, that undermine the city’s potential to grow. Considerable environmental degradation due to poor farming practices, transformation of wetlands and rivers and the spread of invasive alien plants has had a negative effect on the hydrology of local river systems, which is threatening water security.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

South Africa Completed Agriculture

Sustainable production and commercialization strategies in the agrifood sector in South Africa

Declining farming profitability and water scarcity (drought, declining rainfall and excessive demand for water) has left South Africa with fewer than two-thirds the number of farms it had just a few decades ago. Agriculture is a key water consumer in South Africa, with about 62% of the country’s surface water being used for irrigation. Furthermore, soil erosion and degradation of agricultural land though overexploitation and inappropriate and unsustainable farming methods pose a threat to the country’s food security.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

South Africa Completed Agriculture

Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production in South African agricultural value chains

Fairtrade certification is the world’s leading ethical and sustainability certification system for agriculture, benefiting farming communities and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The Fairtrade model of Fairtrade International directly and indirectly contributes to inclusive and green economic growth, leading to decent work, poverty reduction and – in the South African context – addressing the legacies of apartheid, including persistent social inequality and economic exclusion.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

South Africa Completed Agriculture

Meat Naturally Initiative: Embedding sustainability into South Africa's emerging red meat sector

South Africa contains some of the most biologically rich rangelands in the world and a full 70% of the country is suitable for sustainable grazing. South Africa’s rangelands are also home to 76% of the poorest people in the country, many of whose livelihoods depend on livestock. In fact, 50% of the country’s livestock is owned by subsistence farmers or farmers who are just starting to sell to commercial markets. Increasingly, these farmers are women who have inherited herds.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Mauritius Completed Agriculture

Promoting sustainable local agriculture through green retail and green hospitality (SUS-AGRI)

Agriculture accounts for 3.4% of gross domestic product and 8.3% of employment in Mauritius. Although Mauritius is considered a net-food-importing country by the World Trade Organization, the small-scale agriculture sector is vital to the production of some 115,000 tons of food crops annually. Some 9,000 small-scale farmers are involved in vegetable and fruit production, with limited capacity in marketing group initiatives. There is growing demand for higher-quality food in Mauritius.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Mauritius Completed Agriculture

Increase capacity-building in the fishing community of Rodrigues through training for organic cultivation of the combava lime plant (C. hystrix) and its chilli paste

The Rodrigues fishing community is largely focused on massive fishing activities, to the detriment of the marine ecosystem. To improve this situation, the Commission of Environment and Fisheries introduced an “octopus closing period” to shift the local people away from fishing and towards alternative livelihoods, such as cleaning up and beautifying their local communities, for a limited period.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Mauritius Completed Agriculture

A model for sustainable production and consumption practices and eco-entrepreneurship development

Centre de Formation Agricole Frère Remi is a training centre catering to young people, aiming to develop their academic and vocational skills. The centre welcomes teenagers aged between 12 and 18 years old who have experienced successive academic failures, mainly at the primary school level. It offers courses in mathematics, French, English, livestock rearing, horticulture, floriculture, mosaiculture, phytotechnics and zootechnics. The teenagers are encouraged by coaches and volunteers to develop their vocational skills in order to eventually start up their own micro-businesses.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Ghana Completed Agriculture

Improved institutional biomass cook stoves and ovens for small and medium-scale agro-processing industries in Ghana (renewable energy project)

Currently, Ghana has a wide range of traditional agriculture production that makes a major contribution to food security and livelihoods in rural areas, including production of shea nuts, palm kernels, peanuts, seeds and cassava. These products are processed using thermal energy before being consumed or traded. Firewood is traditionally used for the vast majority of thermal agro-processing, and recent increases in the price of liquified petroleum gas have supported this preference.

Categorized Under: Agriculture

Burkina Faso Completed Integrated Waste Management

Transformation des déchets ménagers en engrais agricole (Transformation of household wastes into fertilizer)

In urban areas, hygiene and sanitation are an ongoing struggle because of increasing urbanization and the resulting growth in household waste. Aside from the unbearable odour of rotting garbage that affects the daily life of residents, such waste attracts insects, rodents and reptiles capable of transmitting disease.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Burkina Faso Completed Integrated Waste Management

Valorisation des déchets de la filière anacarde comme une source d’énergie renouvelable pour les PMEs au Burkina Faso (Cashew as a source of renewable energy for SMEs in Burkina Faso)

Cashew industry waste (currently about 2,000 tons/year, with the potential to increase to 15,000 tons/year) is a sustainable alternative to wood as a fuel for domestic and industrial needs.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Burkina Faso Completed Integrated Waste Management

NEERE project: Groupe de Recherche et d’Analyse Appliqués pour le Développement (GRAAD) (applied research and analysis group for development)

“NEERE” in the local language means “pretty” or “clean”. As the project’s name suggests, its general objective is to contribute to the emergence of clean, sustainable cities through the use of integrated waste management strategies. By the end of the project, all households should be educated in responsible waste management and should be subscribed to the newly created waste management system. The project should result in a more pleasant living environment, with the removal of at least 60% of the garbage piles and dumps scattered around the communes involved.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Uganda Completed Integrated Waste Management

Upscaling the generation, commercialization and use of biomass waste-based green energy sources in Uganda

The by-products and waste streams of agricultural processes are currently not widely utilized. This project is aimed at fostering the use of biomass technologies to turn such agricultural by-products and waste into feedstock or fuel, as a means of adding value to farm produce and increasing farmers’ incomes. The manufacturing sector would also benefit from the transfer of technology for biogas burners, milk coolers, lighting equipment and appliances, briquette presses and other related equipment.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

South Africa Completed Integrated Waste Management

Management of sustainable energy production from integrated waste management and agricultural processing systems

Many micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises lack an awareness of sustainable agricultural value and supply chains and how agricultural waste-to-energy systems can support sustainable consumption and production practices. The agricultural sector is facing unprecedented resource pressures. The Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), a Vienna-based international organization that advances markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency, envisions future agricultural production in South Africa as being clean, powered by renewable energy and energy-efficient systems.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Kenya Completed Integrated Waste Management

Greening SME leather clusters and the leather tanning industry

Kenya has 14 operating tanneries, most of which face challenges pertaining to limited modernization and effluent management. Approximately 95% of the leather produced is being exported in a semi-processed state (wet blue), earning approximately $160 million a year.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Ghana Completed Integrated Waste Management

One-stop business and policy centre for the establishment of eco-innovative MSMEs and supporting policies in the e-waste and end-of-life vehicle sector (ECOBPC)

Volumes of e-waste and end-of-life vehicles (ELV) in Ghana are increasing by about 49 million tons per year due to a growing population, and in particular due to changing lifestyles, as well as to imports of e-waste and ELV. While there is a high level of reuse and refurbishment of used electrical and electronic equipment and used vehicles and their components, unsound treatment and disposal of e-waste and ELV cause enormous damage to the environment and human health. This project is aimed at supporting eco-entrepreneurship opportunities for the treatment of such waste.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Ghana Completed Integrated Waste Management

Promotion of biogas technologies

In Ghana, 95% of the population depends on on-site, stand-alone treatment systems to meet their sanitation needs. The contents of such sanitation facilities, whether domestic, industrial or in the hospitality sector, are rich in methane gas, but are disposed of indiscriminately in the open air, with all the attendant public health implications.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Ghana Completed Integrated Waste Management

Hanisa e-waste model (HEMOD)

Ghana generates over 150,000 tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e-waste) annually. This is in addition to end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment imported into the country.

Categorized Under: Integrated Waste Management

Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Mauritius, South Africa Completed Manufacturing

Enhancing the resource productivity and environmental performance of MSMEs in 6 African countries through the concept of industrial symbiosis

The problem of the collection, management and disposal of waste continues to feature prominently in major towns and cities across African countries. This has led to contamination of water bodies and to the spread of waterborne diseases and other health hazards. In most African countries, waste generation is the result of a rapidly growing urban population, along with the changing patterns of production and consumption inherent to a more urban lifestyle and the consequent industrialization.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Burkina Faso Completed Manufacturing

Enabling SMEs from Burkina Faso to launch solar energy production

In Burkina Faso, solar energy is a sustainable alternative to electricity in terms of availability, cost and carbon emissions. Solar energy systems have not been widely adopted in the country due to barriers such as limited awareness, a high initial investment and limited access to finance. Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises do not have a clear view of their energy consumption patterns or of the opportunities to reduce their costs by using solar energy.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Kenya Completed Manufacturing

Capacity enhancement for green business development and eco-entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector

Most micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and business membership organizations are necessity-driven rather than growth-oriented. They are constrained by low start-up capital, a low level of innovation, invention and skill investment, low value addition, an imitation culture, low survival rates, limited access to markets and/or saturated markets, inadequate training and inadequate access to appropriate, tailor-made business development services.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Kenya Completed Manufacturing

Upscaling sustainable commercial production of medicinal plants by community-based conservation groups at Kakamega Forest in Kenya

The Kakamega Forest Reserve is the only surviving rainforest in Kenya. The forest provides a unique sanctuary for a remarkable diversity of endemic plants, birds and insects not found anywhere else in Kenya. It is also an important watershed for some of the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Uganda Completed Manufacturing

Promoting sustainable product innovation and energy-efficient practices among small-scale industries in Uganda

Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for a sizeable share of Ugandan industry and contribute substantially to the country’s economic development. They are a vehicle through which the rural poor and informally employed Ugandans can transform themselves into the middle and industrial classes of tomorrow. The sector accounts for approximately 90% of the private sector and has potential for long-term growth.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Uganda Completed Manufacturing

Demand-side management of energy use in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda through the promotion of energy-efficient techniques and practices

In Uganda, the demand for energy has increased significantly due to economic growth and development, improved standards of living, growing populations and, in particular, accelerating industrial growth. The manufacturing sector uses large amounts of energy to support its production processes and other operations. The micro , small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) of the sector are characterized by low energy efficiency due to the use of obsolete technologies, a lack of skilled labour, poor operating practices and limited use of renewable energy sources.

Categorized Under: Manufacturing

Showing 1 - 25 of 31

SWITCH-Africa Green Programme is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme with the financial support of the European Union. The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of the project partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.